


Knights and Castles

by sunsxleil



Series: Merry Christmas, I Love You [16]
Category: Carol (2015)
Genre: Chess, F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:15:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28173018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunsxleil/pseuds/sunsxleil
Summary: Abby gifts Carol and Therese a chess set for Christmas, so naturally, Carol and Therese decide to have a game of chess.
Relationships: Carol Aird/Therese Belivet
Series: Merry Christmas, I Love You [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2035672
Comments: 3
Kudos: 26





	Knights and Castles

**Author's Note:**

> No prompt again today! Kind of came to me this morning when I woke up. Hope you guys enjoy it!

“Do you know how to play?”

“Yes, a little.” Therese says, taking a seat on their sofa. Carol sits opposite her, setting the small box on the cushion between them. “You?”

“A little as well,” Carol says as she unlatches the box, laying down the other half to reveal an array of chess pieces. “Though I’m afraid I’ve mostly forgotten it all.”

Abby had dropped by earlier, excited as can be. She had told Carol she would not be home on Christmas, since she’d be spending her holidays on the West Coast with some new girl she’s met. ‘Another one?’ Carol had teased, to which Abby had answered, ‘Well not all of us can just waltz into a department store and find everything we need there’ and with a wink at Therese, Abby had given them the chess set.

It’s the usual chess set, nothing grand: the board is made of wood, purposed so that it can serve both as a box for the pieces and as a chessboard once flipped over. The pieces are also made out of wood, and Carol has half a mind to imagine Abby made it all by herself. But Abby’s too lazy for that. And, having a new woman to keep her busy, Carol can imagine Abby’s hands are already full.

“That’s all right.” Therese smiles. Carol would not be so keen to play a game she has little to no experience in, but this is Therese, so Carol is at ease. “I’ll teach you.” She helps Carol take the pieces out, a few at a time lest their newly given gift get lost somewhere under the couch or some other place in their apartment. And of course, to make sure nothing falls and breaks. While they take out the pieces, Carol can’t help feeling her heart lurch every time Therese’s fingers brush against her—and one look at Therese lets Carol know it’s all on purpose.

Oh, her little angel.

“Alright then,” Carol claps her hands together. “Let’s see if I at least remember how to set it up.”

To Carol’s credit, she mostly remembers how the pieces are supposed to be set up, though Therese had to switch up certain pieces because she had switched them.

“The rook on the outer edge, and the knight beside it.” Therese says. She smiles up at Carol. “A girl from the boarding school told me the rook is like a fortress or a wall, that’s why they’re also called castles.”

“I see.” Carol nods. “I remember asking my father how to play, when I was younger.” Carol leans back, and they had set her up to be black and Therese white, so Therese made the first move, with one of her pawns moving forward. “He told me that all the pieces especially the queen had to protect the defenseless king, and I said ‘is that why men can be so incompetent?’ He gave me a good spanking for that, told me I had no business having such a dirty mouth.” Therese laughs, and Carol smirks. She mirrors Therese’s move on the chessboard, to which Therese raises a brow.

“I wonder what he’d think of you now.” Therese moves another pawn and, Carol not wanting to make a mirror of their pieces, decides to move a different pawn of hers.

“I imagine he turns in his grave every time I curse,” and to Carol’s surprise, Therese moves her bishop out. Therese only smiles at her, and Carol looks down at her pieces in confusion. She decides to move her bishop as well, shakes her head, and says, “oh, and every time I fuck you.”

Carol looks up at Therese, who squeezes her thighs together and blushes.

Therese moves out a knight. “Because I’m a woman or because of how you go down on me?”

Carol moves a pawn. “Both, probably. Though I’d like to think he’d be intimidated at how well I can make you scream.”

Therese’s flush creeps down to her neck, and it takes everything in Carol not to stand up and bite at it. “So he taught you how to play?”

“No,” Carol says. Therese moves a pawn again, and Carol takes that pawn with one of her own. “A cousin did. We had all been bored once and thought, well, why not?” Therese moves out her queen, which makes Carol’s eyebrows raise high. “I don’t think we played any proper games though, considering most of us had been children.”

Therese laughs, and Carol looks up at her giving that smile she remembers so well from the first time Therese had given her a present, back in that roadside diner. Oh, so adorable. Carol moves another pawn forward. “I’ve played a few games with Dannie. I used to play with Richard sometimes too, but he never liked chess too much.” Therese moves her queen forward a square, which Carol blocks with a pawn. “Richard was never good at staying in one place and thinking too much.”

“That sounds like most men.” Therese laughs. Therese retreats her queen, and Carol looks over her pieces as she thinks on what she could do next. “Really, have you ever met a man who spent more than a few minutes thinking his decisions through outside of being a man and having a wife?”

Therese shakes her head. “Maybe that’s why I like having you instead.”

Carol glances up at Therese, and smiles. “As you should.” Seeing a clear shot for a move, Carol takes Therese’s knight with her bishop, to which Therese takes Carol’s bishop with a pawn. “Should’ve seen that coming.”

Therese laughs. “That’s fine. We’re just refreshing your memory, remember?”

Carol chuckles, shaking her head. “As if I’d know better than you.” Therese tilts her head, and oh if not for the chessboard between them, Carol would kiss the hair on Therese’s head.

Seeing no other potential moves, Carol moves her queen forward. Therese takes a moment to think before moving her bishop. Carol’s hand hovers over her queen, which earns a _tsk tsk_ from Therese. “Wouldn’t do that if I were you.” When Carol raises her brows in question, Therese points to Carol’s knight under attack.

Carol moves the knight away. “See,” with a smile, she leans back in her seat. “As if I’d know better than you.”

Therese meets her eyes and smiles at her, and Carol thinks how nice it would be, to be protected by walls in a castle where she and her queen could live in peace. She could be the knight, and they would have no need for a king—because men are utterly useless anyway and Carol and Therese can fend for themselves. She wonders if Therese would agree to that kind of arrangement, in another world, or would Therese prefer her to be the queen, and Therese, her knight?

Therese takes Carol’s knight with her queen, and Carol’s jaw drops. “How did I not see that?”

“Come on,” Therese says. “Do you want me to win or are you really just bad at playing?”

Carol gives Therese a playful glare. “Very helpful, darling.” Therese laughs.

Carol moves her queen against Therese’s. “If I win, you’ll have to reward me for getting there without knowing anything.”

Therese takes Carol’s queen. “And if I win?” Carol wonders if she should make the smart move instead but—perhaps she’d like to reward Therese tonight instead of asking for one herself.

Carol moves her bishop, and Therese shakes her head, knowing what Carol is doing. Therese takes Carol's rook, putting the king under check. “If you win, sweetheart, you’ll get a reward from me.” Carol moves her king away, but Therese moves her queen down: check. Carol moves her king up. “So, do try your best to win.”

Therese moves her bishop. Carol places her king back in its old position. “You too,” Therese says, knowing full well Carol is just waiting to see her win.

They continue to move their pieces, with Carol’s king getting further and further backed into a corner. Carol doesn’t seem to mind though, with her smile getting bigger after each move. Therese thinks Carol anticipates rewarding her more than getting rewarded by her, so that when Carol looks to have lost, Carol is quick to give the game up.

“You could eat my bishop with your knight.”

But Carol shakes her head. “Oh no,” and she smiles, taking in the sight of Therese, wondering if they’ll ever get better at this or will Carol forever just be letting Therese beat her. “You win, darling.”

“Alright then.” Therese begins to gather the pieces again, and Carol follows. They flip the board over and begin to load the pieces back in, just as Therese look back up at Carol. “I’ll be looking forward to my reward.” Setting the last piece down, Therese gets up and heads for their bedroom, leaving Carol to close the lid on the chess set and put it away.

Carol thinks, as she closes the chess set, how glad she is that she chose this life instead of the other possible one for her, back in the custody hearing. She prefers her life like this—free, with her angel and lover with her—than having to lie every day about enjoying the best days of her life with someone she wanted by will and by choice. Now, and thank God she can say it, if anyone needs her, she’ll be in her castle with her angel and queen.

So, Carol pushes the latch down on the chess set, and gets up to follow Therese into the bedroom.

**Author's Note:**

> This is partly inspired by my recent interest in The Queen's Gambit as well as my history of playing a bit of chess back in high school. I even made a crappy simulation of a chess game to base from (though it wasn't very good, I was rushed).
> 
> Anyway, all mistakes are mine, and I don't own the characters—Patricia Highsmith does. Hope you guys enjoyed this little peek of what I'd like to think are smaller snippets in Carol and Therese's life together. Happy Carolmas!


End file.
